Ghodaghodi. Aite Bhul of Gauriganga Municipality-9 leaves his house early in the morning for work. He earns his living by working as a wage earner, but now he does not have to sit empty-handed. After getting a job in the Gauriganga Partnership Forest, Bhul is busy working.
He says, ‘I have been working as a firewood cutter for more than a week, and I am earning Rs 1,000 daily.’ Rajul Chaudhary of Ghodaghodi-8 is also busy working in the partnership forest these days. ‘I was sitting idle, now I am working as a firewood cutter,’ he said.
Like Aite and Rajul, more than 80 people have found employment in the Gauriganga Partnership Forest. The wood cutters are earning Rs 1,000 daily. Sagar Dhami of Gauriganga-10 says, ‘Even though I work on a monthly salary, I have been earning Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,500 daily in addition to my salary since the start of the partnership forest work.’
The action plan for the forest was approved in 2078 BS with the aim of supporting the national and local economy through sustainable forest management and supplying forest products. Accordingly, a group was formed in 2079 BS with the participation of partners and stakeholders. However, due to internal disputes, the partnership forest could not be implemented.
Even forest rangers who have not received salaries for two years after the implementation of the partnership forest are happy that they are getting salaries. Forest ranger Karan Singh Saud says, ‘We had to face a lot of problems because we did not receive salaries. Now I am teaching two children in a good school.’
Now that the work of the partnership forest has started, there is no problem in getting remuneration, he said. Another forest ranger, Sanam Chaudhary, is also happy to be getting remuneration. ‘In the initial years of the partnership forest’s formation, I received remuneration. Then two years passed in the hope of getting remuneration. Before that, I thought of going abroad,’ Chaudhary said. ‘I could not leave the work I got close to home. Now I am happy.’
There are nine forest rangers, an office secretary and an office assistant in the partnership forest. It is not that there has been no effort to implement the partnership forest. In the fiscal year 2079/80, 56,197.83 cubic feet of wood and 59.82 char firewood were collected. In the fiscal year 2080/81, 123,662.03 cubic feet of wood and 108.47 cubic meters of firewood were harvested.
However, due to internal disputes, the implementation has not been possible, says Office Secretary Dil Bahadur Bohara. According to Secretary Bohara, although there was no work in the past, this time 54,000 cubic feet of wood and 45 logs of firewood are being cut as per the collection agreement.
Bohara said that due to the non-implementation of the shared forest, they have faced problems in managing general administrative expenses.
The statute stipulates that the forest user group will consist of seven people from each ward selected from all classes from the ward-level consumer meeting, one ward member designated by the ward chairperson of each ward falling within the shared forest implementation area, and one representative selected from the executive of Gauriganga and Mohonyal rural municipalities, for a total of 50 members.
A dispute arose during the formation process of the said forest group. The committee formed initially was dissolved and another committee was formed. When the group was formed in this way, internal disputes persisted. Hikmat Mahata, the chairman of the Gauriganga Partnership Forest Users Committee, said that the dispute of the member-secretary of the group was resolved and implemented after discussing with various political parties, stakeholders, etc.
Another member, Mohan Bik, says that the supply of local consumers will be completed by utilizing the wood that burns and rots in the fire. The Gauriganga Partnership Forest has been formed by covering wards 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 of the municipality and 5 of Mohonyal Rural Municipality.
The partnership forest, which has an area of 3,20.46 hectares, has 6,326 household users.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्